In Search of the Wild Things

After repeated notices in the mail warning me that I might be beheaded or maimed by the defective air bag in my pick up I brought it in to be serviced yesterday morning. Recalling that the dealership is in the area where I used to photograph wildflowers I grabbed my Canon EOS T1i camera and a Canon 60mm macro lens as I headed out the door. On pulling into the service area I was saddened to see that the new dealership sat right on the field where there used to be large purple patches of Lupines. Dejectedly I sat in the waiting room for the repairs to be made. You can only sit in a waiting room for so long looking at car magazines so I decided to walk out onto the car lot and look at the pick ups for sale. The first one I looked at made me have sticker shock. It was $59,197.00! That is more than the purchase price of my first home! I continued on down the line to the base model which was a more affordable $40,000.00 . Then I starting searching for some possible wildflowers that may still be surviving around the edges of the lot. Just past the edge of the last vehicle there was a patch of purple. I was happy to find a small patch of Purple Vetch that was creeping under the fence. Looking further I found a single clover blossom struggling to survive in this lonely little corner as well. Nature sometimes finds a way to come back. God's love and blessings to all, chris Both images were created with a handheld Canon EOS T1i camera and a Canon EF-S60mm macro lens. #TeamCanon

It Must be Raining

Last night we went to sleep with the sound of the pitter pat of raindrops on the roof outside our bedroom window. It's really nice to leave the window cracked just a little bit so that we can hear it. For many it is a joyful sound. For many ranchers it's a bad sound. We are in the middle of haying season and it means a loss of a lot of dollars in the form of moldy hay bales if they couldn't get then out of the fields and undercover before the rains hit. All this morning and today it has been a steadily coming down. I took a break from paperwork and bills to photograph the rain drops on the Lupine and Strawberry plants in the front yard. I hope that you are enjoying your day. God bless, chis All of these images werecreated with a canon 7D MkII and a canon 100-400 IS v. 1 lens on a Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod. Exposure varied.#TeamCanon

Pretty in Pink!

I think I'm becoming the House Finch king!! I have a jillion images of House Finches built up in my image files now. This morning wasn't any different. There were a lot of Finches coming into the bird feeder one after another. I decided to push the envelop a little bit with some bright pink and a Lupine blossom. Here are my pretty in pink images from this morning. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens. A Canon 550EX flash was used as a fill flash. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 5.6 at 1/200th of a sec.

Wonderful Wildflowers

This afternoon I was driving to my photoblind in the Little Lake Valley and I noticed for the first time that the lupines are starting to bloom along the side of the road. I just had to stop and take a quick photograph of them! First it was the Fairy slippers and now the wildflowers are starting to bloom on the valley floor. A sure sign of spring. God's blessings to all, chris

Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens at 210mm, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a Bogen 3055 Ballhead. Camera Settings- AV mode, ISO 400,F stop F16.0,Shutter speed 1/250th of a sec.

Wonderful Wildflowers

Yesterday afternoon after a fantastic morning of bird photography I settled down to the computer and did some editing. I got some excellent bird images! Later on in the afternoon I went with Annika to her American Sign Language Class at Mendocino Junior College. After I dropped her off I went to one of my favorite places to photograph Lupines and California Poppies. The Northwestern Railroad tracks run right through Downtown Ukiah and are abandoned. Some stretches have large swaths of wildflowers that you can photograph without being worried about being disturbed by traffic or people.I spent close to an hour photographing flowers before I had to pack up and go pick up Annika for the drive home. She is getting to be a pretty good driver.

God's love and blessings to everyone,

chris